C35 The Story I Never Told

The room was quiet.

Aisha sat cross-legged on the bed, the blanket loosely wrapped around her shoulders, sunlight spilling across the floor beside her.

Arjun sat in the chair near the study table, elbows resting on his knees, his full attention fixed on her.

He could sense this story was not going to be easy.

She exhaled slowly.

“Okay… so this story begins when I was eighteen.”

A faint smile touched her lips.

“My first year of dental college.”

“I had just arrived from the city… new clothes, new lifestyle, new everything. I was trying to fit in, you know?”

She shrugged.

“With a smile.”

Arjun nodded slightly, listening.

“That year,” she continued, “people used to say I was one of the most beautiful freshers in college.”

She rolled her eyes playfully.

“Not because I was actually the prettiest girl… but because I was outgoing. Loud. Friendly. I had city habits and style that people here found… exciting.”

He could picture it.

An eighteen-year-old version of her.

Bright.

Carefree.

Walking through campus with that same smile she still had today.

“Everyone wanted to be my friend,” she said softly.

“Everyone wanted to talk to me.”

She paused.

“But there are always two sides to a coin.”

Arjun felt his chest tighten slightly.

“While I was enjoying the attention,” she said quietly, “someone else was planning something worse.”

His eyes sharpened.

“One of my seniors.”

She made a face.

“He had a really strong political background. One of those guys who thought the whole campus belonged to him.”

“Name?” Arjun asked.

She looked at him.

“Atul.”

The name settled heavily in the room.

“I didn’t like him at all,” she continued bluntly.

“Honestly… he was ugly as hell.”

She made a disgusted expression.

“Looked like some slug wearing clothes.”

Arjun almost smiled at that description despite the tension.

“But he had his eyes on me.”

Her voice lowered.

“And once that kind of person decides something… they don’t stop easily.”

“What did he do?” Arjun asked quietly.

“At first… he followed me.”

“Every day.”

Arjun’s jaw tightened.

“I noticed him outside the hostel gate sometimes… or near the college entrance.”

She rubbed her fingers together slowly.

“Just watching.”

“One day,” she continued, “I was walking back to my hostel alone.”

“I had a headache that day so I left college early.”

She looked toward the window as if replaying the memory.

“The road to the hostel is really isolated,” she said.

“Almost a kilometer long.”

“No houses. No shops.”

“Just trees and empty road.”

Arjun’s body had already gone rigid.

“He suddenly overtook me with his car,” she said.

“Stopped right in front of me.”

“What?” Arjun muttered.

“I freaked out,” she said simply.

“He stepped out and asked me out.”

She laughed bitterly.

“Like it was some romantic movie scene.”

Arjun’s hands slowly clenched.

“I ran past him and went straight to the hostel.”

Her voice remained calm but distant.

“He kept doing that for almost four months.”

“Four months?” Arjun said sharply.

She nodded.

“Following. Waiting outside.”

“Sometimes driving beside me slowly.”

Arjun ran a hand through his hair.

“That’s criminal harassment.”

She smiled faintly.

“Welcome to small town college politics.”

“Didn’t you report him?”

“I was scared.”

“And after that first incident… I stopped walking alone.”

She continued.

“I started hanging out with big groups.”

“And eventually… I got a boyfriend.”

Arjun looked up immediately.

“Engineering student,” she added casually.

“Sweet guy.”

His expression hardened slightly but he didn’t interrupt.

“Once we started dating,” she said, “the stalking stopped.”

“For a while.”

She paused.

“Then one night… someone ripped off my boyfriend’s brand new bike seat.”

Arjun frowned.

“In the middle of the night?”

She nodded.

“We came out the next morning and the whole seat was destroyed.”

“Did you suspect him?”

Aisha gave a small nod.

“Deep down… yes.”

“But I never had proof.”

She leaned back against the wall.

“And somehow… I started blaming myself.”

“Why?” Arjun asked quietly.

“Because my existence had caused all that chaos.”

She shrugged.

“Eventually I broke up with that boyfriend.”

“Then I had a huge fight with my friend group too.”

She smiled weakly.

“And suddenly… I was alone in the whole college.”

Arjun felt something twist painfully in his chest.

“That’s when the stalking started again,” she said.

“This time worse.”

“How worse?” he asked carefully.

“He stopped hiding it.”

“He would stand outside classrooms.”

“Follow me across campus.”

“Drive slowly behind me.”

Arjun’s eyes darkened.

“I tried telling the college faculty,” she said.

“They all knew how powerful his family was.”

She laughed bitterly.

“So they ignored it.”

Arjun’s voice dropped.

“And your parents?”

“They didn’t have time.”

Her tone was matter-of-fact.

“My only friend during that time was Golu.”

She smiled faintly.

“But he had his own life and work too.”

“So you were completely alone.”

She nodded slowly.

“That loneliness… it does strange things to your brain.”

Her voice softened.

“I started hurting myself.”

Arjun’s breathing slowed.

“And the thoughts…”

She looked down at her hands.

“They weren’t good.”

He didn’t interrupt.

He knew better.

“Then one evening,” she continued, “I had to stay late in college.”

“When I was leaving it was already sunset.”

“The professor who stayed with me asked how I was going back.”

“What did you say?” Arjun asked.

“I told him I would walk to the hostel.”

His eyes widened.

“He got worried because that road has wild animals sometimes.”

She smiled faintly.

“Predators.”

She paused.

Then continued.

“And right when we were standing at the door…”

“Someone from behind said — ‘Excuse me.’ ”

Her voice grew quieter.

“It was him.”

“Atul.”

Arjun’s shoulders stiffened.

“The professor asked what he was doing at this hour.”

“What did he say?” Arjun asked.

“He said he forgot his bag in class and came to pick it up.”

Aisha looked down.

“And then the professor got an idea.”

Arjun already knew.

His jaw clenched.

“He asked Atul if he could drop me at the hostel.”

Arjun muttered under his breath.

“God…”

“I froze,” Aisha said.

“I was terrified.”

“But Atul smiled.”

She mimicked the expression faintly.

“And agreed.”

“He even offered to drop the professor too.”

Arjun leaned back slowly.

His face unreadable.

“We all got into his car.”

“The same car he used to stalk me.”

“I was sitting in the passenger seat,” she continued.

“The professor made me sit there.”

Arjun asked quietly,

“Where did you go first?”

“Professor’s house.”

“It was in the opposite direction from the hostel but closer to college.”

She took a slow breath.

“After dropping him… it was just me and Atul.”

The silence in the room thickened.

“He started driving through some strange roads.”

“I didn’t know the town well back then.”

She swallowed.

“Eventually the road became completely quiet.”

“No lights.”

“No houses.”

Arjun’s hands had curled into fists now.

“And then he stopped the car.”

Her voice dropped to a whisper.

“In the middle of nowhere.”

Arjun didn’t move.

“I panicked and asked what he was doing.”

She stared straight ahead.

“He just smirked.”

“And then he unbuckled his seatbelt…”

Her voice faltered slightly.

“And jumped over to my seat.”

Arjun’s jaw locked so tightly the muscles moved under his skin.

“He started doing things I can’t even describe properly.”

Her fingers tightened around the blanket.

“I tried to stop him.”

“I fought.”

“Hard.”

Arjun whispered,

“Did he—”

She shook her head quickly.

“I managed to push him away.”

Her breathing slowed.

“After struggling for a long time… I finally broke free and ran.”

She laughed faintly.

“Ran into the dark… straight into nowhere.”

“How did you reach the hostel?” Arjun asked.

“Some locals found me walking and helped me.”

Silence settled again.

“That incident…”

She looked down.

“Left me broken.”

“I didn’t speak for three days.”

“I refused to leave my room.”

Arjun’s chest felt heavy.

“After three days I decided to fight back.”

His eyes lifted.

“I went to the faculty to complain.”

“And?” he asked quietly.

“They kept asking the same question.”

Her voice turned cold.

“Are you sure it was him?”

“Do you have proof?”

“Maybe you’re just paranoid.”

Arjun closed his eyes briefly.

“They refused my complaint.”

“Because there was no evidence.”

She laughed softly.

“And apparently jumping on someone and traumatizing them…”

“Is not a serious enough crime.”

Arjun looked ready to explode.

“He walked freely around campus.”

“Like nothing happened.”

Her voice trembled slightly now.

“But every time I saw him…”

“I would remember him hovering over me like some animal.”

“Touching me everywhere.”

She rubbed her arms unconsciously.

“That disgusting feeling never left.”

Her eyes looked distant now.

“I started getting panic attacks.”

“I couldn’t sleep.”

She looked up at Arjun.

“For forty-five days.”

He blinked.

“I barely slept at all.”

“Every time I closed my eyes… nightmares.”

“Flashbacks.”

“My academic life collapsed.”

“My personal life too.”

Her voice softened.

“So eventually I went to a psychiatrist.”

Arjun leaned forward slightly.

“And for the first time…”

“I cried in front of someone who actually listened.”

She smiled faintly.

“He prescribed me these pills.”

Her eyes flicked to the bottle on the table.

“But when I told my parents…”

She sighed.

“They said I wasn’t crazy.”

“They said I didn’t need pills.”

“They forced you to stop?” Arjun asked.

She nodded.

“They told me to just follow a healthy lifestyle.”

“And did it help?”

“A little.”

She shrugged.

“Then I met the boyfriend I told you about.”

“The paddler,” Arjun said.

She smiled faintly.

“Yeah.”

“I met him through mutual friends.”

Her eyes softened with the memory.

“He had the most beautiful tattooed arms I had ever seen.”

Arjun raised an eyebrow.

“And because of those tattoos…”

She laughed softly.

“We started dating.”

She leaned back.

“My parents wouldn’t let me take medicine.”

“But my brain still needed silence.”

Her gaze drifted toward the window.

“So I found calm somewhere else.”

The room fell silent again.

Arjun sat there motionless.

Listening to the end of her story.

Feeling something dark and heavy forming inside his chest.

Something that looked a lot like rage.

But also something softer.

Protectiveness.

Aisha looked at him gently.

“That’s the story

She tilted her head.

“So… soldier.”

She asked quietly.

“Any questions?”